tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post793875273032839132..comments2017-12-11T16:52:05.098-08:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: Poppea at West Edge OperaLisa Hirschhttps://plus.google.com/103506374847919843102noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-37070262601625264242013-02-10T23:21:20.323-08:002013-02-10T23:21:20.323-08:00Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your kind and informed ...Dear Lisa, <br /><br />Thank you for your kind and informed post about West Edge Opera&#39;s &quot;Poppea.&quot; I hope to explain a little about the &quot;musical arrangement&quot;. Basically, our choice about &quot;orchestration&quot; follows very closely what we know about Monteverdi and Cavalli&#39;s resources at theaters in Venice in the middle of the 17th century. Payment records show us they consistently had a harpsichord, maybe two, and a theorbo, maybe two. A curious footnote is that Benedetto Ferrari was one of these principal theorbo players, and likely composed the final duet &quot;Pur ti miro.&quot; Instruments of the violin family were limited to one on a part. The harp was a little extra added by us, although we really can&#39;t prove they were used at all in the theater. I made the choice in light of the fact that we wanted another theorbo, but found the harp a satisfying substitute. Without exception, the scores of these Venetian operas are with a continuo bass lie, and a few scant ritornelli punctuating scenes or sparingly used in strophic airs. Winds are NEVER called for. There is absolutely nothing to suggest they couldn&#39;t afford more instruments or desired them. <br /> I am one of the few that allow this &quot;orchestration&quot; to stand, as is. It is surely an acquired taste for some, especially for those opera goers that are used to the elaborate arrangements of Leppard, and even period instrument advocates, like Rene Jacobs. <br />Yes, these arrangements satisfy the desire to hear a colorful &quot;renaissance orchestra,&quot; but flatly contradict what Monteverdi and his followers expected and heard. It used to be assumed that &quot;Poppea,&quot; &quot;Ulysse,&quot; &quot;Calisto,&quot; and countless other operas were missing something, because they didn&#39;t have the elaborate fully written out wind parts of &quot;court&quot; or &quot;occasional&quot; works, like &quot;Orfeo.&quot; I believe that Leppard and others felt that modern opera audiences would find a more 18th century treatment more palatable to an unfamiliar audience. <br />I am convinced that what we lose in color is made up for in flexibility from singing actors, and a much more intimate connection between the pluckers and singers. It is an entirely different esthetic from what we are used to hearing in later works. I too resisted this treatment, and my initial reaction was similar to what I felt when I heard Handel&#39;s &quot;Messiah&quot; without the additions of Mozart, Elgar, and Beeacham. Eventually I allowed myself to hear these works differently. <br /> It was a pleasure to explore &quot;Poppea&quot; with this sound esthetic, and it wouldn&#39;t have been possible with a larger opera company demanding a union size orchestra. All of the continuo players in the West Edge production used the same continuo bass line, and improvised their parts. Each player was thus enabled to &quot;identify&quot; with a particular character as the staging rehearsals progressed. It was a wonderful window into Monteverdi&#39;s world and process. <br /><br />all best, <br />Gilbert Martinez, Artistic Director<br />MusicSourcesBach Rameauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13130831489474245826noreply@blogger.com